Boyz II Men’s role in Putin’s “crusade to raise the country’s birth rate” was originally reported by the Moscow Times. But the British newspaper the Telegraph notes that it’s unclear whether Putin extended an invite to the singers of “I’ll Make Love to You” and “On Bended Knee” personally:

Whether or not the Russian kingpin personally got on the phone, tracked down their agent and demanded that they “do the show right here” is pure speculation on the newspaper’s part. It’s a little hard to believe… but it’s also not impossible to imagine.

Putin has been vocal about Russia’s population issues. In December, he urged Russian families to have more children, saying, “It’s important that families make that step,” according to the Telegraph. “I am convinced that the norm in Russia should become a family with three children.” In the past decade, as Russia’s population decline started to level off, Putin proposed a “mother’s capital” policy which would pay women up to $10,000 to have a second child, according to the Financial Times.